Author: Abdul Hai Lay'yan
The Divine Education Model in the Family of the Prophets (part 98)
Eighth Guideline: Purification from Deviations Precedes Adorning Oneself with Virtues and Excellence
One of the significant educational principles found in the advice of Luqman the Wise (RA) is that, before inviting his son to adopt virtues and noble qualities, he first warned him against the greatest source of corruption and misguidance—shirk (associating partners with Allah).
This educational principle is well known in Islamic ethics and spiritual purification as al-Takhliyah qabla al-Tahliyah—purification before adornment. In other words, one must first cleanse oneself of vices before adorning oneself with virtues.
The reason Luqman (RA) began his first piece of advice by prohibiting shirk was that the human soul cannot attain spiritual growth, purification, and perfection until it is first cleansed of false beliefs and corrupt ideas. The correction of one’s creed forms the foundation for the rectification of one’s conduct and actions. As long as a person’s beliefs remain unsound, reforming the other dimensions of his character becomes exceedingly difficult. [1]
Therefore, Luqman first protected his son from the greatest causes of corruption and deviation so that the path toward spiritual growth and moral excellence could be opened before him.
Just as a patient who continues engaging in the causes of illness can never achieve complete recovery, a person who does not remove the causes of spiritual corruption from his life can never attain the lofty ranks of faith and righteous character.
This reality may be illustrated through the work of a physician. When a patient consults a doctor, the doctor’s first instruction is to avoid the causes of the illness and refrain from everything that aggravates the disease. Only then does the physician prescribe the appropriate medicine so that the patient may gradually progress from sickness to health.
The same principle governs spiritual education. A true educator first calls people to abandon sins, moral defects, and deviations before guiding them toward noble character, righteousness, steadfastness, and piety. [2]
In other words, the heart must first be cleansed of shirk, sin, arrogance, envy, and other blameworthy traits before it can be adorned with faith, sincerity, humility, patience, and other noble virtues.
This educational principle is firmly rooted in the guidance of the Noble Qur’an. Luqman (RA) first prohibited his son from committing shirk, saying: (يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ) Translation: “O my dear son! Do not associate partners with Allah. Indeed, associating partners with Him is a tremendous injustice.” [3]
Accordingly, one of the fundamental principles of Islamic education is that purifying one’s beliefs and character from deviation must precede adorning oneself with virtues and moral excellence.
The deeper and more complete this purification becomes, the greater one’s capacity to receive divine guidance, strengthen faith, and cultivate noble moral qualities.
Ninth Guideline: Shirk The Greatest Injustice and the Darkest Wrong
In his very first counsel to his son, Luqman the Wise (RA) declared: (يَا بُنَيَّ لَا تُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ إِنَّ الشِّرْكَ لَظُلْمٌ عَظِيمٌ) Translation: “O my dear son! Do not associate partners with Allah. Indeed, associating partners with Him is a tremendous injustice.” [4]
The Noble Qur’an repeatedly describes shirk and disbelief (kufr) as forms of zulm (injustice or wrongdoing). For example, Allah says: (وَالْكَافِرُونَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ) Translation: “And it is the disbelievers who are the wrongdoers.” [5]
To be continued…
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References:
- Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn ʿAshūr, Al-Taḥrir wa al-Tanwir, vol. 20, p. 155.
- Surah Luqmān, 31:13.
- Fārūq Ḥammādah, Ābāʾ wa Abnāʾ: Malāmiḥ Tarbawiyyah fī al-Qurʾān (Parents and Children: Educational Features in the Qur’an), p. 169.
- Surah Luqmān, 31:13.
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Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:254.
